The Philippines in the United States' Indo-Pacific Grand Strategies

Abstract

This chapter situates US foreign policy in relation to the Philippines within its evolving grand strategies of the twenty-first century. It examines the place of the Philippines from President George W. Bush’s War on Terror in Southeast Asia to President Joe Biden’s managed and calibrated competition with China. Upon President Obama’s announcement of the rebalance strategy in 2011, the Philippines already figured prominently in US foreign policy in Asia, particularly in light of the intensification of the Philippine–Chinese territorial dispute in the South China Sea. In 2014, Washington and Manila signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that provided the institutional framework for an increased albeit a non-permanent US military presence in the Philippines. In 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte effected a major shift in the country’s foreign policy by distancing the country from the US and gravitating toward China. The Trump Administration, however, saw the Philippines as a crucial ally in its strategic competition with China. Consequently, Washington adopted a policy of strategic patience to bring Duterte onside the US rather than pushing him to China’s embrace. This scheme stabilized the two countries’ security relations, and ensured the Philippines’ commitment to the US system of bilateral alliances. In conclusion, the chapter shows that given the Philippines close security ties with the US that often clash with China’s interests, it will be difficult for President Duterte to pursue his announced independent foreign policy.